Poll: Was Monday’s victory karmic justice for the Seahawks?

Share this:

Seven years ago, the Seahawks lost Super Bowl XL due to, as many Seattle fans would argue, horrible officiating. On Monday, the Seahawks beat the Packers due to, as many football fans are saying, horrible officiating.

Seahawks fans point to three key calls during the 2006 Super Bowl that, they believe, lost the game for Seattle. The first came in the first quarter, when Seahawks receiver Darrell Jackson was flagged for offensive pass interference on a touchdown pass from QB Matt Hasselbeck; the score was nullified. The second came in the fourth quarter, when Seattle tackle Sean Locklear was called for holding Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans, negating a deep completed pass. The third was a disputed call on Hasselbeck when, after he threw an interception to Pittsburgh’s Ike Taylor, he was flagged for an illegal block when making a tackle during Taylor’s return.

Four years later, NFL referee Bill Leavy admitted that he “kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game.” Seattle ended up losing to Pittsburgh 21-10.

On Monday, this time poor officiating fell on the side of the Seahawks. In case you missed it somehow, Seattle beat the Packers on a last-second touchdown that has the football world up in arms.

To recap: On the last play of the game, as the final 8 seconds ticked off the clock, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson tossed a Hail Mary pass to the end zone, where receivers Golden Tate and Charly Martin were waiting. A big clump of players — Seahawks and Packers — jumped up for the catch. The replacement referees ruled that Tate and Packers safety M.D. Jennings both caught the ball, and by the NFL’s simultaneous possession rule, awarded the Seahawks the game-winning touchdown.

Even upon review, the ruling stood. But the video replay, many people say, clearly shows two things. First, that Tate pushed cornerback Sam Shields to the turf before jumping up for the ball, which could have been called offensive pass interference. Second, that Jennings caught the ball while Tate tried to get his hands in there, with Tate even taking one hand off the ball as all the players fell to the ground.

On Tuesday, the NFL released a statement on the play, saying Tate should have been called for pass interference. But the NFL stood by the officials’ replay review, saying the video was inconclusive and that the ruling on the field stood.

Seattle ended up winning 14-12. And now football fans appear to have reached the end of their patience when it comes to the NFL’s referee lockout, which has put replacement officials on the field for three weeks so far.

But a win is a win, and the Seahawks are now 2-1 on the season after Monday’s victory. While they may know Green Bay probably should have won that game, Seahawks fans are likely happy that their team was finally on the right side of bad calls.